Sven JansseFragments

Sven Jansse (1987, Rotterdam, NL) is an independent architect and designer that graduated with honors from Eindhoven University of Technology and gained professional experience at the offices of OMA, KAAN Architecten and Powerhouse Company before starting his own design studio Image & Space. He was a tutor at the chair of Complex Projects at the Delft University of Technology and currently holds a teaching position at the Academy of Architecture in Maastricht.

The series called F R A G M E N T S, designed by Sven Jansse (Image & Space) in collaboration with Alexandra Sonnemans, questions the role of architectural visualisations in the contemporary design practice by creating highly detailed impressions of fictional spaces. By removing the fragments from their usual context, and presenting them instead as autonomous and tangible objects, they deliver a new reality to be judged by the imagination of the audience.

The depicted spaces are – except some traces of human use – complettely empty, and the architecture seems to balance on the edges of our consciousness. The lack of overview allows the spectators to curate their own spatial experience.

The context of the historical inner city of Brescia with its vacant windows and unused spaces will form an interesting backdrop to the dreamlike visualisations that combine hints of nostalgia and craftmanship, like a seemingly out-of-place art nouveau staircase or large stone walls, but at the same time seem to envision a fantastical future where buildings are dressed in translucent drapes.

While merely created on a computer, the used technique of collaging demands a lot of manual labour. It’s a deliberate choice to use technological innovation in the most ‘analog’ and elaborative way, in order to maintain the personal influences of the designer.